A sleek ?50s bank has been retrofitted, providing a new office for the Cuningham Group One of Phoenix?s notable midcentury modern buildings will be reborn as a new office for the Cuningham Group, which will move in after renovations finish on the 1951 landmark.
Designed by architectural duo William Pereira and Charles Luckman, the Farmers and Stockmen?s Bank Building blended International Style design and local influences, one of a score of such banks built in booming post-war Phoenix. Built east of downtown in 1951, the square, glass-covered main office evoked Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, according to the city?s historical report, while the cylindrical vault, constructed with desert masonry, recalls the southwestern Native American kiva and the stonework found at Taliesin West. Most recently operating as a Bank of America branch, the 6,000-square-foot structure was recently restored, with a focus on showcasing some of the original design elements, for the Minneapolis-based firm, which finished moving in this fall. The retrofit was made possible in part by a $140,000 city grant for historic restoration.
?For a firm such as ours that deeply respects good design, it is an honor to make this landmark our home,? said Cuningham Group Principal Nabil Abou-Haidar. ?There is a clean-lined simplicity to the building that remains attractive to this day.?

Julius Shulman courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust
Interior of the Farmers & Stockmen?s Bank b...